S2E5: The Trainer and the Hunter
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: An unfortunate rockslide leads to Hiccup and Ryker becoming trapped in a cave with no way out but one: working together.
1. Chapter 1

**GUYS.**

 **HELP ME.  
**

 **I CAN'T...STOP...POSTING...HELP ME...**

 ***slams head on keyboard***

 **FINE! So this was supposed to be posted on March 20th, I got bored, so I moved the release date to March 10th, and guess what? I decided to get it to you all early. -_- COME ON. I can't take a break even when I _want_ to! **

**But anyways, I'm ahead of myself in school, which is nice, so I'll have more time to write...so, anyways, I'm going to challenge myself! Last time I challenged myself I finished an 8+ chapter story in like, two to three days, so let's see how this goes. *rubs hands together***

 **Oh, hang on, something I have to do first...**

 **WARNING: RACE TO THE EDGE SPOILERS!**

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 **I am getting reeeeaaaaal tired of having to do that. XD So anyways, about the challenge:**

 **I will complete this story and post the sequel to it by MARCH 20TH.** **And that's it. :D You guys think I can do it? Let's see! :D I hope you enjoy chapter 1! :D Enjoy, and I'll see you all later! :D**

* * *

Hiccup, Fishlegs, Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout were running. The sky was clear and hot, and the terrain was sandy. Behind them, a large castle-like tower stood, and from the open castle doors ran armed soldiers.

"Let's go to the library, he said!" shouted Snotlout as they ran. "Let's find the book, he said! The Dragon Eye gave us the directions, he said! I'm an idiot, he said!"

"Snotlout, shut up!" snapped Fishlegs angrily, trying to keep up with the rest of the group, who was much faster than he.

"FINE!" said Snotlout. "But if we die for this, Hiccup, I blame you!"

"If we die," said Tuffnut, "I'm going to want an apology from you, H. And a hug. Wait, can spirits hug? If they can-"

"Guys!" shouted Astrid angrily. "Escape from evil maniacs now, talk about dying later!"

They kept running, through the sand, until finally, the ground cut off abruptly in a cliffside. Without hesitation, the riders leapt off it and landed on the backs of their dragons, who had been hovering over the ocean, awaiting their riders' returns.

"Fan out!" Hiccup said. "Fan out and head back to the Edge!"

The riders displayed their agreement by soaring on their dragons, effortlessly scattering themselves through the sky, each heading in a different direction towards the Edge to avoid being followed by the ships of angry soldiers (if the angry soldiers _had_ any ships).

When the island faded from sight, the riders regrouped and continued flying, all the way towards the Edge.

"Sheesh!" moaned Snotlout. "For a public library, they are _extremely_ hostile!"

"It's not just _any_ public library, Snotlout," said Astrid, "it's the Meathead public library, and they're extremely protective of their books. If you so much as touch them, they want to kill you."

"And if Ruffnut and Tuffnut hadn't tried to light an aisle on fire," said Fishlegs, "the soldiers wouldn't have bothered us."

"Hey!" snapped Ruffnut. "The books threatened us, we were sure of it!"

"Books aren't capable of threatening you!" Snotlout said angrily.

"Ooooh!" said Tuffnut mockingly, flicking his hair. "I didn't know _you_ were the master of books! I didn't even know you knew how to _read!"_

Fishlegs coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like, "He doesn't," to which Snotlout protested with a shout of, "HEY!"

...

They landed their dragons on the platform in front of the Clubhouse back on the Edge and dismounted. Hiccup pulled a leather bound book from Toothless' saddlebag; the book they had snatched from the not-so-public library.

"We almost died," said Snotlout, "for a _book_."

"Are you _sure_ we charted the map right?" said Fishlegs nervously. "The Dragon Eye wouldn't lead us to the Meathead territory, would it?"

"Well, it's impossible to know," said Astrid. "We charted that course months ago, before Viggo stole the Dragon Eye away from us."

"And this," said Hiccup, holding up the dusty book, "is what the Dragon Eye was hinting for us to get."

"How do you know?" Fishlegs asked curiously.

Hiccup brushed dust off the book's cover and opened it; tied to the front page was a Dragon Eye lense.

"This," said Hiccup, untying the string and pulling the lense up for his friends to see. "The Dragon Eye wanted us to get this."

He studied the lense while Fishlegs took the book; really, it was a shame the Dragon Eye had been stolen. Without the Dragon Eye, they had no way of figuring out exactly what the lense had to project.

Astrid came up behind him; the hourglass amber necklace Hiccup had made for her was strung around her neck. She took the lense and studied it. "Are you sure there's no way to see what's on here without the Dragon Eye?" she asked.

Hiccup nodded, and she handed the lense back to him. "Positive," he said. "We tried it tons of times with all different kinds of dragon fire...we even tried Changewing acid from Eyelicker."

Said dragon, along with the other seven members of his pack, looked down at Hiccup and the others curiously, heads tilted to one side. Eyelicker's wing had mended entirely, but he and his pack had yet to return to Changewing island.

It was almost as though they didn't _want_ to return, as though they had decided to make the Edge their home instead.

Fishlegs flipped through the pages of the book...then, suddenly, he stopped. "Hiccup," he said, "I think the Dragon Eye was leading us to more than just the new lense."

Hiccup and the others headed over instantly.

"This isn't just a book," said Fishlegs.

"Oh!" said Ruffnut. "Great! That's a relief. I don't know how to read."

"No, it's a book," said Fishlegs.

"But you just said it wasn't," said Tuffnut

"Let me finish!" said Fishlegs sharply, and then, much calmer, he continued, "It's a journal."

"A journal?" said Ruffnut. "Does that mean we have to read?"

"What about the journal, Fishlegs?" Astrid asked, leaning over to get a better look. "What's so important about it that the Dragon Eye would lead us to it?"

"It's one of Bork's journals," said Fishlegs, his voice heavy with awe. "And it's full of so much...I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Wait," said Tuffnut. "Bork, as in, Bork the Very Very Unfortunate? What do you want his journal for?"

"He _was_ Bork the Very Very Unfortunate," said Hiccup, as Fishlegs handed him the journal, "but that changed to Bork the Bold. He dedicated his entire life to studying and documenting dragons."

"Exactly!" said Fishlegs. "Half of everything in the Book of Dragons was originally discovered by him."

"Through some very, very unfortunate events," added Astrid, nodding. "Sometimes I wonder how he figured out Changewings had hypnotic eyes, or that Timberjacks' wings could saw through trees."

Hiccup flipped through the book, page after page. Every once in a while, there was a sketch of a dragon, some of which Hiccup recognized, and others of which he had never heard of before.

"Fishlegs, this is amazing," said Hiccup.

"I know!" said Fishlegs excitedly. "Just imagine what this could mean for us! The journal could be full of new species, old species, and new information on the species we already know!"

"Ugh," said Tuffnut. "They're doing that thing again."

"Yeah," said Ruffnut. "Anyone who doesn't want to listen to extensive dragon knowledge, you can come help us boobytrap Snotlout's hut."

"Hey!" protested Snotlout. "Why does everyone always gang up on _me?"_

"But why would there be a Dragon Eye lense in Bork's notebook?" Astrid questioned, taking the lense from Hiccup to study a second time.

"Maybe Bork came across the Dragon Eye in his travels," said Hiccup, "and put this lense here because…"

"Because…?" Fishlegs prompted.

"Because _what?"_ said Snotlout.

"Maybe it goes along with something in the journal," said Hiccup. "Of course, we'd know what this is, if we had the Dragon Eye…"

"But Ryker and the dragon hunters have the Dragon Eye," said Snotlout.

Hiccup looked at the lense, and then back at the notebook. "I'll do some reading in his journal," he said. "Maybe Bork hinted something about the lense in here. If we can find out what's special about the lense, maybe we can figure out what's on it without the Dragon Eye."

"Okay, sounds great!" said Ruffnut. "We'll leave the reading to you, and the boobytrapping Snotlout to us!"

"DO NOT," said Snotlout, "TOUCH MY STUFF-"

"Bye!" said Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and they leapt onto their dragon and shot into the sky before anyone could protest further. Snotlout growled lowly, mounted Hookfang, and took off after them, shouting all the while.

"IF YOU BOOBYTRAP MY HOUSE," he yelled, "NO ONE WILL FIND YOUR BODIES!"

…

That evening, Hiccup sat on the edge of his bed, eyes scanning Bork's journal for anything that so much as _hinted_ the Dragon Eye. Toothless paced impatiently nearby, back and forth, back and forth, until finally, he stopped pacing and nudged Hiccup so hard from behind he nearly fell off the bed.

"What?" said Hiccup, looking over his shoulder.

Toothless ran towards the window and looked out expectantly.

"Oh," Hiccup said, "sure...give me five more minutes, and we'll go flying, alright?"

Toothless looked at him uncertainly, but when Hiccup didn't say anything else, he went right back to pacing. Hiccup continued to skim read, looking for keywords (Dragon Eye or lense, specifically), and after a few more minutes, Toothless, once again becoming impatient, swung his tail and whacked the back of Hiccup's head. Hiccup yelped and whirled around again, but when Toothless grinned back at him, Hiccup sighed.

"Alright," he said. "Let's go flying. I can't make anything out in the book, anyways." He set the journal on his desk and blew out the candle.

…

Toothless silhouetted against the half moon and soared back down, towards the sandy beach below. As the dragon flew, Hiccup turned his thoughts over in his mind.

"But why would Bork put a Dragon Eye lense in his journal?" he asked Toothless. Toothless growled. "Exactly!" said Hiccup. "He wouldn't unless he was hinting something with it...maybe a map of some sort."

Toothless growled again, which could have meant anything, and soared on, away from the beach and over the forests, and finally, towards the caves on the North side of the Edge - the location farthest away from their home base. The riders didn't come here often; the cliffs were unstable. Rockslides were a regular occurrence.

Hiccup sighed heavily. "If only we had the Dragon Eye," he said. "This would be a whole lot easier."

Toothless didn't answer; instead, the dragon turned his gaze to the ground, eyes suddenly narrowing. He growled lowly, and Hiccup instantly stopped thinking about Bork's journal and followed Toothless' gaze.

"What is it?" he asked.

Toothless hovered, and he and Hiccup looked towards the ground.

Hiccup heard it before he saw it; shouts of what sounded like men, soldiers, perhaps, but he couldn't see anything from this height, and even if he could, the multiple boulders from previous rockslides blocking the view.

"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup said, suddenly whispering, "go down, but slowly, we don't want them to see us."

Toothless nodded in agreement and soared downwards, towards the ground, though he didn't land. Hiccup turned, looking for any sign of soldiers...maybe Dagur and his men had returned for vengeance, who knew…

Then, he raised his head towards the ocean. A single ship was docked on the shore.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "Those aren't Berserker ships," he said lowly. "Those are…" He squinted further, and then, he gasped.

"...Dragon hunter ships," he said.

* * *

 **I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK YOU GUYS.**

 **Okay so maybe it's not all that important, but it's important to me. I really, really, really want you guys to answer this question for me; I think it'll help me a lot as a writer, and I really, really, really, really, _reallyreallyreallyreallyreally_ want to know what you think. **

**Okay.**

 **Here goes.**

 **Which episode in "Race to the Edge Season 2b" your favorite so far, and why was it your** **favorite?**

 **Please guys, I want to know. I've been wondering it for a while. :D So, let me know which one is your favorite, and why it's your favorite. It'll help me know what you want to see more of in the future. :D**

 **I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! :D THANK YOU! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**WHOOPS, SORRY GUYS, I SHOULD'VE BEEN MORE SPECIFIC IN THE QUESTION LAST CHAPTER!**

 **I don't know if I told everyone, but this 13 "episode" fanfiction series I'm writing is called "Race to the Edge Season 2b" because it takes place between seasons 2 and 3. Yeah, sorry, I should have specified that before. MY BAD! :/ XD Yeah, that was confusing...sorry. :(**

 **So, reposing the question:** **What is your favorite episode in this 13 "episode" fanfiction series so far?** **There! Did it! :D Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, guys! :D I love you all! :D Oh, and you don't have to leave a review to let me know which one you liked; you can go to my profile and vote on the new poll I set up, too. :D Thanks a bunch! You're all amazing! :D Shout-outs:**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Thanks! :D Glad you like it! :D And thanks for the feedback! :D**

 **Charr2003: Haha, yeah, a lot of people liked the Hiccstrid confession in the end of that last fic. Now if we can only somehow get DreamWorks to put a Hcicstrid confession in Race to the Edge...come on, Hiccstrid! :D Thanks! :D**

 **Dimentional Phaser: Yeah, Zippleback Experience was amazing. Definitely my favorite episode in the second season. :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Yep! Dragon hunters on the Edge is never a good thing...:/ Let's see what happens! :D Yeah, I'm gonna do this challenge! *fist pump* Hopefully! :D Oooh, yeah, I had a lot of fun writing "Total War Part 1" (where Hiccup was stabbed). Probably one of my favorite ones to write so far. :D Thanks! :D**

 **Animals Rule: Yeah, that episode was great! :D**

 **Angel Azul: Yeah, the Zippleback Experience was amazing. :D**

 **bananablight: Thanks so much! :D Yeah, I think I had the most fun writing Total War Part 1. I love Hiccup and Snotlout's banter and Viggo is an amazing villain. :D Thanks a bunch for the feedback! Means a lot to me. :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: Haha, I think everyone's favorite so far in Race to the Edge season 2 has been the Zippleback Experience. That was my favorite, too. So funny! Plus not to mention Hiccup's "mighty hammer." XD**

 **Jesyke: Haha, thanks! :D**

 **HappyPup1: Astrid's Team was a great episode. I loved the subtle Hiccstrid in it. :D**

 **bella: I had so much fun writing episodes 2 and 3. I like hurting Hiccup for some weird reason. :/ It's probably just because of all the Hiccstrid that follows after he gets hurt and what not. I love Hiccstrid to death. :D I'm glad you like so many of them, too! :D Thanks a bunch for the feedback! :D**

 **DragonQueen3721: Skeletons in the Closet was probably my favorite, too. It's definitely the longest episode in this 13 episode fanfiction series so far. Hiccup's sass is amazing. :D I want to see him get captured in a future episode and STAY CAPTURED for a long time so he has time to sass his opponents to death. :D**

 **CoverGirl7210: Oooh yeah, the Zippleback Experience was my favorite episode, too. :D Loved it so much! It was so hilarious! :D**

 **Midnight510: Thanks for the feedback! :D Yeah, I love it when the gang does something by themselves, especially the twins. They're evil little geniuses. XD And yeah, I'm looking forward to writing this episode! :D I hope you guys like episode 5! :D**

 **Jo: Thanks! :D**

 **Crystallion12: Haha! :D Well, at least having a hard time to decide means I'm not making any episode exceptionally bad. :D I'm looking forward to writing this episode! :D I hope everyone enjoys it as much as they did the other ones! :D**

 **Artwing7: Skeletons in the Closet was fun to write, and so were the "Total War" episodes. I love writing about Hiccup being captured and totally sassing his kidnappers to death. I can't believe DreamWorks hasn't done it in an episode yet. :D You know, they could make an entire episode just on Hiccup's sassy remarks and I would be pretty okay with that. :D Thanks a bunch for the review! :D And yeah, I don't think anyone's complaining about the updates. :D :D :D**

 **DragonChanger1: HAHAHA, the Zippleback Experience was AMAZING. I loved that episode so much, it was brilliant! Especially, like you said, what Hiccup did to Snotlout. PAYBACK TIME! :D :D :D And thanks! :D**

 **1 Fan: Thanks! :D The "Total War" episodes were totally fun to write! :D**

 **Guest (#1): Thanks! :D Yeah, I like it when the gang defends themself without Hiccup's help. Sometimes I think they're too reliant on him. :D**

 **...**

"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup said, patting his dragon's head, whispering as loudly as he dared, "head down. Let's see if we can't find out what they're here for."

Toothless nodded once again and headed, closer to the ground, searching for any sign of the dragon hunters.

Hiccup heard them before he saw them.

"-careful, don't want it to explode while we're still handling it."

Hiccup pulled on Toothless' saddlehorn to stop him; the voices had come from almost directly beside them. Instantly, Toothless screeched to a halt mid-air and landed silently on the rocky, uneven ground below. Hiccup dismounted, equally silent, and he and Toothless crouched behind a nearby boulder, listening.

Hiccup peered around the corner and saw two dragon hunters unloading wooden crates onto the ground. Hiccup watched them, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What are you doing, Ryker?" he whispered, more to himself than anything else. As if on cue, Ryker stepped up, holding his sword up towards the nearest hunter.

"Careful," he said (or snarled, more like).

"I'm being careful," the hunter snapped back, lowering the crate onto the ground and stepping back. Ryker stepped forward, raised his sword, and pried open the crate.

Hiccup gasped at the small, ornate ovals inside it as Ryker smiled.

"Dragon eggs," Hiccup whispered.

Ryker seemed satisfied, and he shut the crate once again. "None of them are cracked," reported one of his hunters, "just like you wanted them."

"Of course," said Ryker, looking at his sword. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He raised his head to his men and called, "Back to the ships! They'll hatch any minute now!"

Hiccup crouched down once again, back pressing against the boulder. Toothless hunched down next to him. "Now why would Ryker be unloading a bunch of dragon eggs onto our shores?" he wondered to himself. "The only reason I can think of is because they explode when they hatch…"

Hiccup froze.

 _They explode when they hatch._

"Of course," he said. "They plan to leave all those dragon eggs over here, on the most unstable part of the Edge, and create a rockslide so big it destroys everything within miles."

This wasn't good.

"Come on, bud," Hiccup said, "we have to get back to the Edge and warn the others."

But before they could move, another dragon hunter approached with another crate, this time passing the boulder Hiccup and Toothless were hidden behind. The dragon hunter looked at them, shocked. Hiccup and Toothless looked back.

Then, Hiccup and Toothless looked at each other and nodded.

It took three seconds for Toothless to knock the soldier over, Hiccup to grab the hunter's axe, and knock him out with the flat of it. Hiccup pressed himself to the boulder again with Toothless, the unconscious hunter in front of them, and the axe enclosed in Hiccup's grip.

Ryker and the rest of the hunters had stopped conversing; they were silent, as were Hiccup and Toothless. Hiccup held his breath.

"You," Ryker's voice said, and Hiccup imagined him pointing to one of his hunters, "go check it out."

"Why me?" snapped the hunter, but he approached anyway. Hiccup could hear his footsteps getting closer, closer…

At the last second, Hiccup and Toothless sprang from their hiding place; Toothless pinned the approaching hunter to the ground and, as soon as the Night Fury stepped off, the hunter turned and ran back towards the rest of the hunters.

It was awkward.

Ryker stared at Hiccup, dumbfounded, and Hiccup stared back. "But," said Ryker, raising a finger, "you're _dead_. Viggo killed you."

"No," said Hiccup. "Viggo _stabbed_ me."

This was very awkward.

Ryker narrowed his eyes and growled. "You really are a thorn in my side," he said lowly.

Hiccup raised the axe in his hand threateningly, wishing he had his shield, or some other weapon other than it, which he knew how to use. "You know," said Hiccup, "Viggo may have looked at me as an underachiever, but I'm very proud of that accomplishment."

Ryker glared at him coldly and twisted his wrist, swinging his sword dramatically. "Men," he commanded, "take care of the Night Fury. Leave Hiccup to me."

Hiccup looked down at the axe in his hands. _Well, it'll have to do_.

Ryker and his five hunters charged. Hiccup raised the axe to defend himself.

Ryker reached him before the rest of the soldiers reached Toothless; with a swinging sword, Ryker parried easily with Hiccup, and Hiccup, in response, met his blow. Ryker went on the offense, and Hiccup automatically took defense - he would pick protecting over attacking any day.

The other hunters didn't stand a chance against Toothless - Hiccup decided that they hadn't brought their dragon nip arrows with them, which gave Toothless a distinct advantage. Within moments, three out of five of the hunters were retreating, and the other two didn't look far behind.

Despite being outnumbered, Hiccup and Toothless kept to their own fairly well.

And then of course, as fate always had it in for Hiccup, something had to go wrong.

Hiccup had forgotten about the dragon eggs.

He had also forgotten what Ryker had said about them, about how they could "hatch at any minute."

This became a problem only a few minutes into the fight.

When Hiccup raised his axe to parry with Ryker's blow, an entire crate of dragon eggs exploded. Hiccup, Ryker, Toothless, and the hunters were blown off their feet; rocks and debris flew everywhere, and smoke overwhelmed the area.

Hiccup sat up, coughing and clutching his head, which had taken the brunt of the landing, by the way it felt. He couldn't see anything, the smoke was so thick, and the air was so hard to breathe -

Ryker leapt out of the smoke and tackled him back to the ground; Hiccup, still unable to see clearly without his eyes burning, fought back as best as he could, rolling and tumbling on the ground, punching and kicking with all his might.

Then, Hiccup heard something - the sound of dozens of rocks falling, piling over each other, crackling. The explosion caused by the hatching dragon eggs had brought down the rocks on the nearby cliffs.

This was the royal opposite of good.

Hiccup managed to push Ryker off him long enough to stand and stumble away, covering his mouth with his elbow to avoid inhaling smoke. "TOOTHLESS!" he shouted. "TOOTHLE-" He cut himself off with a cough that made him feel like his lungs were trying to force their way out of his throat.

He stumbled, his eyes burning from the smoke, his ears ringing from the sound of the falling rocks, but right now, he didn't care. He didn't know where Toothless was; he had to make sure the dragon was alright before he did anything else.

He suddenly saw Toothless amidst the smoke, still fighting off two of Ryker's hunters. But at least Toothless was alive; that was the important thing.

Before Hiccup could move, he was tackled again by Ryker, and this time, the force sent them both tumbling to the ground and rolling down the side of a narrow ravine.

They fell.

They hit the ground.

And the last thing Hiccup remembered hearing before darkness overwhelmed his senses was falling rocks, and Toothless roaring.

…

Astrid landed Stormfly on the platform in front of the Clubhouse and dismounted, hurrying towards the doors and racing inside. Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins were all there, each doing a different activity: Ruffnut and Tuffnut were arguing about Chicken, and Fishlegs and Snotlout were arguing about who would get breakfast.

Astrid did a mental head count and frowned. "Have any of you seen Hiccup?" she said, raising her voice to get over their arguing.

The bickering stopped instantly, and Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins turned to her, all looking equally confused.

"You haven't seen him yet?" said Fishlegs worriedly.

"I'd bet anything he's still sleeping," said Snotlout, his tone the exact opposite of Fishlegs'. "Probably read himself into exhaustion last night, the dork."

It sounded like the very thing Hiccup would do, but for some reason, it didn't seem right. "I haven't seen Toothless, either," said Astrid.

"Sorry, Astrid," said Ruffnut, "but you don't raise a good point. Separating Hiccup and Toothless is harder to separate than a Zippleback."

"And trust me," said Tuffnut, "separating a Zippleback is hard. We tried it once."

"But something feels wrong," said Astrid. "We haven't heard anything from Hiccup since yesterday afternoon when he went to look over Bork's notes…" Her voice trailed off, and she frowned thoughtfully.

"What?" said Fishlegs. "Ooh, I know that face...it's not good, is it?"

"What if he found something," said Astrid, "and he left to find it without us?"

"That," said Snotlout, "is the most un-Hiccup thing ever."

"Actually," said Fishlegs, "Astrid has a point. Remember that time the Outcasts implanted fake maps to the Isle of Night? Hiccup fell for it, and for our safety, went to find it without us."

"And like last time," said Astrid, "Hiccup copied the map into his own notebook and left the original in his room."

"Okay!" said Ruffnut, punching her fist into her open palm. "Let's go ransack Hiccup's house!"

"That's not what I said-"

"COWABUNGA!" cheered Tuffnut, and he and his sister raced towards the doors of the Clubhouse. As they reached their hands out to open them, though, the doors were pushed open from outside, and the twins were thrown backwards, landing on the ground at Astrid's feet.

"Whoa," said Tuffnut, straightening his helmet. "What just happened?"

Toothless stood in the doorway of the Clubhouse, covered from head to toe in gray dust.

"Toothless!" Astrid and Fishlegs said in unison, racing over.

"Toothless?" said Snotlout in question.

Toothless roared at them and ran in a circle, tain thumping impatiently against the ground. Astrid quickly held her hands out to him, attempting to calm the dragon down.

"Whoa, hey, Toothless!" she shouted. "It's okay, it's just us!"

Toothless wasn't having it. He roared right in her face and jerked his head behind him, towards the open doors of the Clubhouse.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut straightened up and looked around. "Where's Hiccup?" they said in unison.

Astrid looked behind Toothless.

Hiccup wasn't there.

"Whoa," said Tuffnut, awed. "I think this is a first. Ruffnut, make a note of that in our records: Toothless is found without Hiccup-"

"This isn't a _joke_ , guys!" Astrid snapped angrily. "Where's Hiccup, Toothless?" she asked, much calmer, because she would deal with an angry Toothless over the twins any day.

Toothless roared again and jerked his head a second time; then, he sheathed his teeth and grabbed Astrid's forearm, attempting to pull her.

"Something's wrong," said Fishlegs obviously. "If Toothless is here, and Hiccup isn't…"

Toothless released Astrid roared, but this time, he sounded desperate. Astrid turned and looked at the other riders seriously.

"Mount your dragons," she demanded, "now."


	3. Chapter 3

**AND...**

 **...I...**

 **...DID IT! WHOOP WHOOP, TWO CHAPTERS TODAY! :D I'm really feeling achieved right now. I just cried over my keyboard because I learned "The Married Life" from Disney Pixar's "Up" and when it got to the sad part I couldn't even read the sheet music anymore becAUSE MY TEARS WERE BLURRING MY VISION SO I PLAYED THE REST FROM MEMORY WHILE SOBBING AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.**

 **Okay! Enough of that! You guys don't want to hear all about my piano life! (But if you do, I also know Forbidden Friendship, Romantic Flight, Flying with Mother, and a few other HttYD tracks. XD). Shout-outs:**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Totally crazy. Hiccup + Ryker = NOT GOOD. :D**

 **Dimentional Phaser: I'm going to use that later, either in this story or in another one. :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Yep, they're all in big trouble now. :/ XD**

 **Artwing7: Hahaha, yeah. I just imagine Hiccup being like, "Viggo stabbed me. I didn't die. You thought I died. This is awkward." XD**

 **Charr2003: THAT IS EXACTLY HOW I AM. It's like, whenever Hiccup and Astrid so much as TALK to each other, I always think, "Aww, you're cute, NOW KISS!" :D :D :D**

 **midnightsky0612: Thor's mighty hammer! :D :D :D**

 **Midnight510: Yep, Dragonese would DEFINITELY come in handy right about now. :D And yeah, twins trying to separate a Zippleback, not one of their better ideas. XD**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yes! Go Toothless! :D**

 **The Brucest Writer: Yep, not going too well for anyone yet. :D Poor Toothless. He's like a lost little adorable puppy dog that could still roast you alive when Hiccup's gone. :( Poor baby. XD Haha, yeah, I'm glad I'm updating quickly! :D I honestly don't know how some writers go for months without updating and I can hardly go A DAY without updating. I LOVE WRITING SO MUCH. :D**

 **SnivyDragon: *Sherlock voice* Normal? Dull. XD Hey, if everything always went the way they always went, what would be the fun of that, honestly? (But seriously, the entire HttYD franchise could just be the characters goofing about and I'd be pretty okay with that, LOL! :D). Ooh, the Total War episodes were so fun to write! :D Especially the part when Hiccup was stabbed (I'm so evil, gosh. :D).**

* * *

Everything hurt.

Everything was dark.

He couldn't breathe properly.

Hiccup lifted his head off the ground; he was lying face down, covered in what felt like dust and dirt. He pushed himself into a sitting position, groaning slightly to himself.

And then, a sharp pain shot through his leg, and he clenched his teeth. That wasn't good. He looked back over his shoulder.

His leg (the only one he had) was captured beneath a small rock. It took little to no time for Hiccup to sit up and push it off, but his leg was still sore - not broken or sprained, thank Thor, but bruised.

He looked around. "T-Toothless?" he called, his voice wavering, but he didn't receive any response. He coughed into the crook of his elbow; dust was still rising from the floor and into the air, which made breathing hard.

Hiccup looked around. He didn't know where he was. He felt around on the ground, trying to find something he could use to light a fire...in the dark, he assembled a small pile of sticks and found two stones (which he hoped were flint, as the riders scavenged most their flint from the rockslide terrain). Hoping against hope this would work, he clicked the stones together repeatedly.

Finally, after the third try, a spark flew from the stones and buried itself in the pile of sticks; within minutes, a fire blossomed to life.

Hiccup gazed upwards, towards the ceiling, and his jaw dropped. The ceiling was made up entirely out of rocks that had somehow lodged themselves against each other, so that they created an unstable roof. Hiccup swallowed hard. If chance hadn't allowed for the rocks to assemble like they did…

He shivered. He would have been _dead_ , buried beneath the rubble of a rockslide, and no one would even know where he was.

He looked around again, assessing his surroundings, and when he did, he gasped and took an involuntary scoot backwards.

Ryker was lying nearby, half buried under rubble, seemingly unconscious.

Hiccup swallowed hard, silently contemplating to himself: what to do? And then… "I can't leave him like that," he finally whispered as if to reassure himself, and he crawled towards his unconscious arch enemy, wincing as his bruises scraped against the ground.

Pushing the stones and rocks off Ryker was harder than he thought it would be, but when he managed it, he deemed Ryker nearly unscathed. Nearly, because his arm, which had been caught beneath the largest rock, was clearly broken, and his shoulder dislocated.

Hiccup swallowed again and, carefully, pulled Ryker's dagger from his belt and scooted backwards again.

Just when he was out of Ryker's reach, Ryker's eyes flew open, and he looked around wildly. As soon as his eyes fell on Hiccup, his hand (the hand of his good arm) moved to his belt, where his dagger had been moments before. When his fingers closed around air, he looked up again.

Hiccup, with a sigh, raised the dagger into clear sight.

Ryker's eyes narrowed. "Why, you little-"

Hiccup thrust the dagger out in front of him so that it came inches away from Ryker's chest. "I just spared your life," Hiccup said in a voice that left no room for arguing. "You'd do well to remember that the next time you threaten me."

Ryker opened his mouth, just to shut it again, clearly finding no good insult in response to that comment. Hiccup, satisfied, rose to a stand and headed towards the opposite side of the cave, where he sat down, fingering Ryker's dagger.

Ryker shifted, and as soon as he moved his arm, he hissed through his teeth. Hiccup looked at him over his shoulder and, as soon as he did, turned back to face the wall again.

 _He's your enemy,_ he told himself reasonably. _Don't pity him_.

 _But he's an enemy who needs help,_ the annoying, selfless, definitely more Hiccup-like part of himself argued back. _Without you, his injury will only get worse._

 _He doesn't need me,_ the logical part of himself snapped. _He'd see me dead._

 _But you wouldn't see_ him _dead_.

He groaned and looked back at Ryker.

"Your shoulder's dislocated," he blurted before he could rethink his decision. "I can help you."

"I don't want your help," Ryker snapped.

"Okay, that's fine, then," said Hiccup, throwing his hands over his head. "I don't want to help you, either. Just thought you might not want to have to get your arm amputated when it starts mending unnaturally."

He crossed his arms over his chest angrily. He knew Ryker wouldn't want to accept his help; the selfish part of him was _glad_ Ryker hadn't accepted his help.

But helping him was the right thing to do.

Hiccup sighed heavily, growled at himself, and stood once again, grabbing Ryker's dagger from the ground as he did. He stomped back over to Ryker and stopped before him, dagger raised.

"You," he said, "are going to let me help you."

Ryker growled at him. "Oh, yeah?" he snarked.

"The one with the dagger," said Hiccup, "makes the rules. I'm going to help you, and you're going to like it."

Ryker glared at him.

Hiccup glared back.

This wasn't working.

…

The dragons soared through the sky, following Toothless, who was running, from the ground. Astrid led the other riders, and Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins filed in behind her, in that order.

"Wow," said Ruffnut, "I've never seen Toothless run that fast!"

"It's a bad thing!" said Fishlegs urgently. "It means Hiccup's in trouble! Oh, this isn't good...what if Dagur attacked? Ryker? Who knows...this is horrible, this is horrible…"

"I'd hate to break it to you, Mr. Voice of Doom," said Snotlout angrily, "but the more you panic, the angrier I get! And you don't want to see me angry."

"Oh, sure," said Tuffnut sarcastically, "because you have a _great_ personality otherwise. I'm sure."

"UGH!"

While they fought, Astrid looked down below. Toothless was leading them towards the cave part of Dragon's Edge: the most unstable part of the island, full of ravines and crannies. Rockslides were a daily occurrence.

"Why is he leading us to Thor's Hammer?" Ruffnut asked.

"Thor's _what?"_ said Fishlegs.

"That's what we decided to call this place," said Ruffnut, crossing her arms. "Is there a problem?"

"If you'll shut up," said Astrid, "we'll call it Thor's Hammer." She looked down, spotting Toothless, still running, towards the area. "Something definitely isn't right."

They rounded a rocky cliffside and gasped. Astrid yanked on Stormfly's horns, and the other riders pulled their dragons to a stop around her.

"Oh my Thor," Astrid whispered.

Even the twins looked shocked. "Whoa," they said in unison.

The entire clearing was blackened like charcoal; the faces of the rocks were covered in soot. A giant, towering heap of rocks from a rockslide was piled over a large crevice; half of the caves that surrounded the clearing had collapsed in on themselves. Smoke and dust were still rising, though the burned ground looked fairly old.

"What happened here?" Astrid whispered, and she prompted Stormfly to touch down on the ground below, followed by the other riders on their dragons. They dismounted as soon as they touched down, looking around.

Toothless had caught up with them again, and the dragon bounded to and fro, back and forth, sniffing the air and roaring desperately. Astrid looked to the left, and then, to the right.

"This place is totaled," said Ruffnut. "I admire whoever did this. Do you think they'll give us classes?"

"Astrid!" called Fishlegs, and his voice came from further away. "You might want to come take a look at this!"

Astrid and the twins turned and hurried over while Snotlout stayed behind, followed by their dragons. Fishlegs stood, holding a piece of burnt wood.

"It's hard to see," said Fishlegs, "but it looks like a piece of the dragon hunter crest."

He handed the piece of wood to Astrid, who took it and studied it. "I think you're right," she said, handing the wood to Snotlout to pass on once he had finished looking at it. "But why would the hunters do this?"

"Guys!" Snotlout's voice shouted from the opposite direction. "I don't think the hunters did this themselves!"

The riders and dragons raced over to see what Snotlout had found; large pieces of cracked shells laid scattered across the ground, some burnt to a crisp while others sparkled in the sunlight. Fishlegs stooped down and picked the nearest one up, brushing soot and dust off it.

"These are dragon egg shells," he reported.

"You mean _eggs_ made this explosion?" said Tuffnut. "Where can we get some eggs?"

"No, guys," said Fishlegs. "When dragon eggs hatch-"

"They explode," said Snotlout, mimicking an explosion with his hands.

Suddenly, from behind, came small, high-pitched growls, and when Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout turned, they saw small, baby dragons race into the clearing - Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Nadders, and Monstrous Nightmares alike. Nothing exotic. They scratched at the ground and greeted the other dragons with growls and coos; the other dragons (all except Toothless) replied likewise.

Snotlout dropped his arms to his sides in disappointment. "So Ryker came over and dumped crates full of explosive dragon eggs here. Why?"

"And how does Hiccup's disappearance fit into it?" said Astrid, frowning. She looked over at Toothless; the dragon was still racing back and forth, still searching frantically for Hiccup.

Then, she looked down at the necklace Hiccup had given her, still strung around her neck. "Everyone," said Astrid determinedly, turning back to the riders, "spread out. Find Hiccup."

"How do we even know he's around here?" Ruffnut questioned.

"Because this is where Toothless led us," said Astrid. "Hiccup's around here somewhere. He has to be."

…

Hiccup sat as far away from Ryker as possible, having finished his reluctant task of resetting Ryker's shoulder and creating a makeshift splint using a torn piece from the hem of his shirt and two thick sticks. The dagger sat beside him, and Ryker sat on the other side of the cave, the burning fire crackling in the center, between them.

Ryker looked to Hiccup; Hiccup had his knees drawn to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs. "Why help me?" Ryker finally asked. "I hate you, you know I do. Why not leave me be?"

"The feeling's mutual," said Hiccup. "I don't know why I did it, either. I guess it just felt...right."

Ryker raised an eyebrow.

Hiccup elaborated. "I have this thing called a conscience," he said, "and sometimes, this conscience knocks me upside the head and yells at me when I see someone who needs help and ignore them."

Ryker rolled his eyes. "We all have consciences," he said.

"Oh, okay," said Hiccup, "and I guess yours is just slacking, or something?"

Ryker glared.

Hiccup sighed. "I don't know why I helped you," he said honestly. "I guess because...well...it was the right thing to do. I don't agree with anything you've done, Ryker," he said quickly. "You're awful. You've hurt dragons for no reason, hunted them, killed them, hunted me and my friends, tried to kill me multiple times...you'd still see me dead even now."

He sighed again.

"And yet," he said, "I believe people can change."

Ryker narrowed his eyes in confusion. "How can you believe that?"

"I witnessed it," Hiccup said. "When I was fifteen."

Ryker raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just say," Hiccup said, "the Berkians weren't _always_ at peace with the dragons."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! :D Welcome back! Not that I was gone for very long...looks like I might complete the challenge! If you guys are lucky, I might start posting episode 6 before March 20th...ahhhh, I'm rubbish at following due dates! :( I want to, but then I start writing, finish a chapter, and say to myself, "Well, my readers won't care if I post a few days early, so what the heck?" XD XD XD I love you all!**

 **So, I honestly don't know how long this story's going to be...I don't think I'll make eight chapters (probably seven, the same length as "Total War Part 2"), but I'm going to try anyways! :D And if I can't, well, that's one extra day for me to write the first chapter of episode 6! :D Well, anyways, enough about that!** **:D Shout-outs:**

 **LunarCatNinja: Haha, yeah, seriously, Hiccup. XD**

 **HufflePufforlife: Yep! :D Go Hiccup! :D Hiccup really is amazing. :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Yeah, be careful, gang! Don't wanna squash your leader...eh. XD And yeah, Hiccup being a sarcastic little dude while also trying to help Ryker without wanting to strangle him...XD**

 **AquaticDragon: Haha, thanks! :D Yeah, season 2b especially is designed to make the readers feel like they're watching actual episodes. :D I'm glad to hear I'm succeeding! :D Thanks! :D**

 **Crystallion12: Yay Ryker! Wait...no, wait...XD HAHA! :D Yeah, I had so much fun writing their meeting on the beach...that was pretty hilarious. :D And nope, Hiccup staying out of trouble would be in denial to his character. XD**

 **Dimentional Phaser: Haha, no spoilers! XD XD XD**

 **DragonChanger1: Thanks! :D Yeah, Tuff can be stupid, but at the same time, smart. :D We'll see what happens! :D**

 **Jo: Haha, thanks a bunch! :D I want Hiccup and his enemy to work together someday in an episode. :D Let's see what happens! :D :D :D**

 **1 Fan: Awwwww, thank you! :D**

 **ShadowSpirit020: I can just imagine the twins jumping up and down, clapping their hands together, cheering, "STORY TIME!" :D**

 **midnightsky0612: Yes, yes it does. :D**

 **Angel Azul: Thansk! :D I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! :D**

 **Artwing7: BABY DRAGONS. AHHHHHH. *dies from cuteness overload* HAHAHA! :D Thanks so much! :D**

* * *

"We were at war for three hundred years," said Hiccup lowly, "but...everything changed when I met Toothless. I proved that dragons weren't the monsters we thought them to be, and, well, it took a while...but people began to accept it, one by one, little by little."

Ryker looked at him incredulously. "It couldn't have been that easy," he said.

Hiccup shook his head. "It wasn't." He gestured to his prosthetic, and after that, went right back to staring at the wall.

Silence.

And then…

"How did you come by losing it, then?" said Ryker. "Your leg."

Hiccup sighed. "We found the dragons' nest," he said. "And, well, there was a battle against the queen of it. Queens have a sort of...mind-controlling ability of everyone in their nest. They're dangerous. Untrainable. We didn't have a choice."

He paused.

"There was an explosion," he said. "I was knocked out mid-air. My dragon caught me by my leg. Snapped the bone in two, and then infection set in...it was either they amputate, or I die."

"And were you...conscious during this?"

"Nope," said Hiccup. "I was out cold for a week. I don't actually remember anything."

Ryker looked at him, half shocked and half curious. "And you forgave the dragon?" he said. "For injuring you?"

"Of course I did," snapped Hiccup. "He saved my life. And anyways...I sort of injured him, too. Shot him out of the sky with a contraption of mine."

Ryker reeled back in start. " _You_ shot down a Night Fury?" he said, impressed.

Hiccup sighed and winced. "I'm not proud of it," he said. "I shot him down, he lost his tail, I was knocked out of the sky, I lost my leg...really, does it matter?"

Ryker frowned and turned away. Hiccup looked at him, eyes narrowed.

"And what about you?" he said. "Why do you hate dragons?"

Ryker swallowed thickly. "Dragons killed my father," he said harshly, as though it were the answer to everything. "I was thirteen. When he was dying, he told me I needed to be strong, that I needed to have courage. It was then I decided I would become a hunter, make them pay for what they did."

And in this case, it was. Hiccup shut his mouth, not exactly knowing what to say. "I'm sorry," he said.

"You might be alright with losing a part of yourself to a dragon, Hiccup Haddock," said Ryker, "but the minute you lose someone you actually care about...it puts things in a different perspective. I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand."

Hiccup frowned. "Actually," he said, "dragons took my mother when I was a baby." At Ryker's confused look, he sighed. "At least you remember your father," he said. "I'd do anything for even the faintest memory of my mother."

Ryker shook his head. "I don't understand," he said. "Everything you've suffered...how can you be at peace with the dragons?"

"Because," said Hiccup, "we were no different than them during the war. The dragons fought us because of the mind control of their queen, and sure, we lost a lot over three hundred years, but we killed far more of them than they did us. We were the monsters of their world. They were defending themselves, like anyone would do if they were under attack, dragon or human alike."

Silence fell once again.

"I'm sorry about Viggo," Hiccup finally said. "Astrid told me what happened. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have seen him dead."

"I used to think you would have," said Ryker. He looked down at his shoulder, in socket only because Hiccup had put it that way. "Now I know you wouldn't have. I've never met anyone quite like you before, Hiccup. Helping me when I'd see you dead, regretting my brother's death when he plotted your murder and nearly saw it through. You're...peculiar."

"Thanks," said Hiccup.

For a few minutes, there was more silence. Hiccup looked around, up at the ceiling, and then to the left. "If we're going to get out of here," he said, "we're going to have to work together."

Ryker frowned at him.

"I don't want to do it any more than you do," said Hiccup, "but we don't have a choice. It's either we both get out, or we both die in here."

Ryker opened his mouth, clearly trying to look for another way out of this, but when he couldn't find one, he groaned. "Fine," he said.

"But first," said Hiccup, "we have to pledge a one week peace treaty. Do you agree?"

Ryker nodded reluctantly. "I agree," he said.

"Great," said Hiccup. "Now let's try and get out of this death trap."

…

"Hiiiicccccuuuuuuppp!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut called, hands cupped around their mouths. Tuffnut lifted a rock off the ground and looked beneath it.

"When we find that idiot," said Snotlout, "I'm going to kill him."

"Keep searching!" said Astrid. "He's around here somewhere! He has to be! Hiccup!"

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs called, cupping his hands around his mouth. "HICCUP!"

They met back in the blackened clearing, dragons at their sides. The baby dragons scampered about the area, wrestling each other; a baby Gronckle chewed on Hookfang's tail.

"Anything?" Astrid asked.

"Nothing," said Tuffnut. "Nada. Zip. Zilch. What other words are there that mean nothing?"

"This is so weird," said Fishlegs. "Maybe the hunters kidnapped him."

"But what would they want with him?" said Astrid. "They couldn't have come here with the intentions of kidnapping him. As far as they know, Hiccup's dead."

"And why would they have taken Hiccup and left Toothless, anyways?" said Snotlout. "Aren't the hunters always saying how much they'd love to have a Night Fury? I mean, honestly...it's a _Night Fury!"_

"Urgh, I hate riddles!" said Tuffnut angrily, stomping his foot. "What's the answer? I give up!"

"I wish I knew," said Astrid, sighing heavily. Her fingers were enclosed around the charm of her necklace. She didn't know what she would do if they couldn't find Hiccup, if Hiccup was hurt, if Hiccup was _dead_ …

"Come on," she said, "we have to keep looking."

"Um, not sure if this is important or anything," said Ruffnut, "but there are ships coming straight for us."

"What?" Astrid blurted, hurrying over, and she looked to where Ruffnut was pointing, and sure enough, she was right.

"Dragon hunters?" Snotlout asked, heading over with Fishlegs and Tuffnut on his tail.

Astrid looked over, squinted, and frowned. "No," she reported, her voice a low growl. "Berserkers."

…

"The rocks are perfectly alligned with each other," said Hiccup, pointing upwards at the rocky ceiling. "If we move one of the rocks, the whole thing could come down on top of us."

"Which," said Ryker, "we don't want."

Hiccup nodded. "But if this is a ravine," he said, "we should be able to follow along it and make it to the surface." He gathered three thick sticks from the ground and held them over their makeshift fire; when the ends of the sticks were ablaze, he held them up and headed towards the end of the tunnel.

Another rockslide had blocked what Hiccup assumed was their only way out. Turning back to Ryker, he asked, "So, ready to help me move some rocks?"

Ryker pounded his fist into his open palm. "I don't see why not," he said.

…

On the Berserker ships cutting through the ocean towards the Edge, Dagur stood, arms crossed, beside Savage, who was looking over a map. "Well?" said Dagur impatiently. "Did we follow them correctly?"

"Without missing a single turn!" said Savage, nodding. "Last night, Ryker and his dragon hunters definitely stopped at Dragon's Edge."

"Now what was he doing there?" said Dagur, looking over excitedly. "It makes you wonder, doesn't it? And tell me...did the spies see Ryker on the ship with his other hunters when they saw his ship heading back to the base?"

Savage shook his head. Dagur smiled fiendishly.

"Which means," he said, "Ryker is still on the Edge. Ooh, this is perfect! Now, the hunters will pay dearly for Viggo's action. Ever since Hiccup's death, things have just been so...so _boring!_ No one to hunt, no one to try and fail to kill...boring! Send some men to the shores on the rowboat, and bring Ryker to me! Alive! I want him _alive!"_

"Right away, Sire!" said Savage, and he hurried off to give word to the men.

…

"What does _Dagur_ want?" said Snotlout, crossing his arms.

"Maybe he followed Ryker here?" said Ruffnut, shrugging. "Dagur did kind of hate everything to do with the hunters after the whole Viggo and Hiccup fiasco."

"Come on," said Fishlegs. "We should get back to the Edge and make sure no one's coming in from the opposite direction."

"Right," said Snotlout, "good plan." He, Fishlegs, and the twins turned towards their dragons, but Astrid and Toothless remained unmoved.

"Astrid, come on!" said Fishlegs.

"We're not leaving here without Hiccup!" said Astrid right back, and Toothless roared in agreement.

"We can come back as soon as we make sure we're properly defended!" said Fishlegs. "But right now, we have to go! Hiccup would want us to."

Astrid swallowed, still clearly reluctant, but she followed anyways, and after a moment, Toothless did the same, running with the baby dragons following him on the ground with the riders flying overhead.

"We'll be back, Hiccup," Astrid whispered, looking at the burnt terrain over her shoulder. "I promise."

...

Hiccup and Ryker dug, pushing and shoving rocks from the unfortunate explosion out of their path. Ryker's dagger remained in its sheath on Hiccup's belt, and Ryker never once sought to take it and backstab Hiccup. He may have been a barbarian, but he still honored treaties, and he and Hiccup had given each other their word that they would be at peace for a time.

Between the two of them, they worked surprisingly fast. Hiccup shoved one last boulder away and had to squint against the flood of sunlight that invaded the dark ravine.

They had made it out.

"Ha!" Hiccup cheered. "That actually worked!" After he and Ryker finished pushing away the extra rocks, the opening was large enough to crawl through. Hiccup went first, and Ryker after him.

They had done it.

"We did it!" Hiccup said, once his eyes had adjusted to the light. "I honestly didn't know if that would work."

"Well," said Ryker, "we made it out. Now, we can each go our separate ways." He seemed more than thrilled to get as far away from Hiccup as he could, and honestly, Hiccup felt the same.

"Not so fast!" came a sudden shout, and Hiccup didn't have the chance to figure out who had said it before something smacked the back of his head, and he hit the ground.

The last thing he saw before he shut his eyes was a soldier with the Berserker crest imprinted on his armor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Did I do it?**

 **YES.**

 **I DID IT.**

 **TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY.**

 **I MADE IT! :D :D :D**

 **Oh, and I wanted to tell you guys (or at least, all the HICCSTRID FANS): I can't promise a whole lot of Hiccstrid in this fic, but I CAN, however, promise A LOT of Hiccstrid in the episode after this one. SO YES, HICCSTRID FANS, THERE WILL BE LOTS OF HICCSTRID IN FUTURE. YOU MAY SLEEP SOUNDLY NOW! LOL! :D :D :D**

 **Shout-outs:**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Yep. What a way to start off the freedom: by getting captured again. :/ XD**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yep, Dagur'll probably figure out now..well, it was bound to happen eventually, wasn't it? :)**

 **AquaticDragon: It can NEVER be that easy for Hiccup...it never is. XD**

 **The Ink Splotches: Yeah, well, at least they aren't trying to kill each other, that's good. :D I can't imagine how I'd react in the same situation...probably more like you said, actually. LOL! :D Well, I guess, if we met danger head-on like Hiccup did on a regular basis, we'd probably take it more in stride, I imagine. XD**

 **Prince Maggie: Thanks! :D It makes my day seeing reviews pop up in my email! :D And yep, I imagine more Hiccstrid coming later on, and if not in this story, definitely in the next one. I promise everyone lots of Hiccstrid in episode 6! :D :D :D**

 **Dimentional Phaser: Updated! Whoop whoop! :D**

 **midnightsky0612: Stupid Berserkers. -_-**

 **Draposs: Haha, yep, torturing Hiccup...that's what I do best! Bwahahahahaha! :D But really, I'm glad you enjoy the story! :D**

 **SnivyDragon: Sssssppooooiiillleeerrrrssssss! XD XD XD I can promise Hiccup and Dagur's "reunion" will be even more awkward than Hiccup and Ryker's. :D :D :D Oh yeah, totally. Baby dragons...not a very good idea. XD**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: They totally just did. XD**

 **bananablight: GAH THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D :D :D**

 **Sadie Linn Cyr: Next chapter, yiiisssss! :D :D :D**

* * *

"Sir!" one of Dagur's soldiers shouted from behind; one of the soldiers who had returned from the rowboat expedition to the shoreline of Dragon's Edge.

"Do you have Ryker?" Dagur asked instantly, turning to face the soldier. "If you don't have Ryker, you might as well throw yourself overboard, before I do it for you-"

"Oh, we have Ryker, sir!" the soldier reported cheerily, "and someone else even better."

Dagur sighed heavily. "If you've brought one of Hiccup's dragon riders," he said, "I'm not interested. They're not even useful as _bargaining_ chips without Hiccup-"

He stopped abruptly when the rest of the rowboat expedition came onto Dagur's main ship, pushing in front of them Ryker and Hiccup, bound in ropes and struggling.

"We found them as soon as we docked," said the soldier as Hiccup and Ryker were thrown down at Dagur's feet. "Knocked 'em out temporarily. They came to as we were bringing them here."

Dagur didn't even look at Ryker. He stepped straight towards Hiccup, eyes wide, axe in his hand. He swung his weapon out in front of him, aiming it threateningly at Hiccup's throat.

"Hiccup," he said. "But...you're _dead_. You died. Viggo killed you."

"Right," said Hiccup, nodding. "I'm just the ghost come back to haunt you. Don't mind me. In fact, you should probably let us go right now while you have the chance. Ghosts can be insanely unpredictable."

Dagur stared at him. And then, his face split into a grin. "BROTHER!" he shouted, and without warning, he hauled Hiccup to his feet and (Hiccup couldn't believe it, either) hugged him. "This is brilliant! You don't know how happy I am to see you!"

"Right, great," Hiccup choked. "Brilliant. Please let me go."

Dagur set him down again. "It has been so _boring_ without you, brother," he said. "I don't know how you coped without _me_ as an adversary for the three years I was in prison! How did you _do it?"_

Hiccup frowned at him. "Drop the act, Dagur," he said. "I know you too well."

"Right," said Dagur, and his smile faded. "Down to business. Now that you're alive and here..." He grabbed his axe off the ground again, and his smile returned, maniacal as ever. "I can kill you myself!"

"And there it is," Hiccup said.

Dagur raised his axe, and Hiccup didn't flinch.

"But sire!" shouted Savage from behind. "What of Ryker?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Dagur groaned. "Throw him overboard! Cut his head off! Get rid of him!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Dagur," said Hiccup threateningly.

Dagur sighed and lowered his axe. "Here we go again," he said. "Hiccup and his little _I-told-you-not-to_ speech. Well, listen, brother. Nothing you say can save Ryker, or you!"

"Honestly, Dagur," said Hiccup. "I wouldn't touch Ryker."

"And why wouldn't you?" snapped Dagur.

"Because," said Hiccup, nodding at something over Dagur's shoulder, "you'll have to answer to them if you do."

Dagur turned around.

A dragon hunter ship smashed into the side of Dagur's, and Dagur was thrown to the deck; Hiccup almost lost his balance, but managed to regain it at the last second. He slipped his hand to his belt, wrapped his fingers around the hilt of Ryker's dagger, and, yanking it out, managed to cut the ropes binding his arms. Then, he turned and did the same to Ryker's bonds.

"WHY," said Dagur, pointing wildly at the ship, "DID THE DRAGON HUNTERS COME BACK!?"

"Because," said Ryker, stepping towards him, "if you weren't such a _fool_ , you may have noticed I told my men that, should anything happen, they were to go back to the base and return with reinforcements."

"BUT THAT'S CHEATING," Dagur protested.

"No," said Ryker. "That's _winning_."

The dragon hunters leapt onto Dagur's ship, and war commenced. Ryker charged at the nearest Berserker soldier; one with an axe he was holding rather pathetically. One well aimed punch was all it took for the soldier to be knocked unconscious, and as soon as he was down, Ryker ripped the axe from his grip and charged at the next nearest soldier.

Hiccup, with Ryker's dagger, went for Dagur as Dagur went for him. Dagur, who had dropped his axe the minute he hit the decks, drew a dagger from his belt and met Hiccup in battle.

"This time," said Dagur, his teeth gritted, "I'm going to make sure you _stay_ dead."

Hiccup laughed humorlessly. "Good _luck_ ," he said.

And they immersed themselves in battle once again. Dagur swung his dagger, and Hiccup swung Ryker's in response. Dagur, when Hiccup was distracted, kicked Hiccup over, and Hiccup, balance long lost, stumbled backwards and fell through the open hatch leading to the lower decks of the ship.

He hit the ground with a hollow _thump_ and stood up just as quickly, dagger in hand. Dagur leapt down the hatch after him, swinging his own weapon lazily.

The below decks were stocked with barrels of who-knew-what, and a weapon rack on the wall was crowded with weapons of all sorts – axes, swords, whips, maces, shields. On shelves nailed to the wall were lined clay pots, filled with arrows.

Dagur sighed. " _Yawn,_ brother," he said. "Come on, fight me! I've been waiting too long for this moment!"

He lunged, and Hiccup met the blow with an expert parry of his own. He, thinking quickly, ducked beneath another one of Dagur's blows and placed himself in front of the shelves of pots.

"Is that all you got?" said Dagur challengingly. "I waited all that time for _this?_ You fight worse than my father. He was a coward, too."

Hiccup raised his dagger and charged again; Dagur blocked his blow and swung his own weapon downwards. Hiccup blocked the blow. Dagur swung again. Hiccup ducked to the side, beneath the nearest shelf. Dagur pulled his arm back, preparing to throw the dagger, and Hiccup, using his resources, grabbed the nearest clay pot to him and threw it, directly at Dagur.

The pot smashed to pieces against Dagur, who yowled and stumbled backwards, giving Hiccup enough time to race from beneath the shelf and grab Dagur's dagger before the madman could recollect it.

Dagur stood up and looked to the left. When he did, he grinned maniacally, and Hiccup mentally slapped himself.

Dagur had landed right beside the giant weapon board.

Grinning fiendishly, he grabbed the nearest thing to him – a whip.

"You're kidding," Hiccup moaned. "Why do these things always happen to me – WHOA!" He ducked, just as Dagur swung the whip, a loud _crack_ bouncing off the walls of the ship. Hiccup dove again, his previous feeling of triumph abandoning him, leaving him with two daggers against a madman with a whip.

Yeah.

Today was _not_ his day.

He grabbed another clay pot and threw it, but his aim was off, and he didn't even come close to hitting Dagur. Dagur, meanwhile, swung the whip again, and this time (luck must have _really_ been on Dagur's side) the whip caught Hiccup's hands and wrapped around them tightly like a constricting snake.

The whip bit into his skin, but at this point, Hiccup didn't care, because Dagur was reaching for the axe on the weapon board with the hand that wasn't holding the handle of the whip, and Hiccup wasn't going to let him get near it. He silently regretted what he was about to do next and yanked himself backwards; Dagur, an iron hold on the whip, was pulled backwards as well, away from the weapon board and the axe he had been reaching for.

Hiccup pulled the whip from around his hands, ignored the gashes it had created on his wrists and, dagger still miraculously in his grasp, stood his ground. Dagur, panting as heavily as he was, smiled.

"You're lighter on your feet than you look," said Dagur. "Oh, no, sorry, I meant foot-"

Dagur raced backwards, grabbed the axe off the weapon board, and threw it as hard as he could, straight towards Hiccup.

Hiccup ducked.

The axe embedded itself in the wood behind them, and instantly, a gigantic hole was created in the side of the ship. Water instantly began splurting through it with an insane amount of pressure; it would only be a matter of time before the boat sank entirely-

Dagur swung again, and Hiccup just managed to duck in time. The water had already begun to pool at the floor, and on his next dodge, Hiccup slipped and nearly fell.

"Dagur, stop!" Hiccup yelled, but Dagur wasn't having it. He grabbed a sword and threw it with horrible aim; he missed his target by a mile, but he nearly put another hole in his ship.

"NEVER!" Dagur cackled.

The water was already up to their ankles, and it sure wasn't getting any shallower.

"This is madness!" Hiccup shouted. "You've sank your own ship, you'll kill us all!"

"And 'all' includes," said Dagur, swinging his weapon, " _you!"_ Without warning, he threw the weapon aside and tackled Hiccup to the ground.

For a moment, he was entirely submerged in water, but he managed to shove Dagur off him before he ran out of air. His wrists were bleeding, and he felt disoriented. Dagur seized him by his forearm and flung him against the wall, right into the shelves.

Hiccup was knocked unconscious by the impact on the wall itself, and he crumpled to the ground on his side. The shelves collapsed in on themselves, and clay pots crashed around Hiccup.

Dagur narrowed his eyes in cruel pleasure. "You survived the stabbing," said Dagur. "Let's see if you survive _drowning_."

He heaved himself onto the main deck of his ship once again, leaving Hiccup half-submerged in water to die.


	6. Chapter 6

**I've got a funny story for you guys! :D**

 **So, I woke up kind of late this morning, and I was still half-asleep, but I wanted to know what time it was without getting out of bed. And since I'm a little behind on algebra, the past few days I've been doing a minimum of six pages in my book a day, the first thing my half-asleep, poor little mind thought was, "Oooh, I can figure out what time it is using an algebraic equation!"**

 **And so I tried to do this, and somehow I ended up with 3.14 as my answer (I know, right? I don't know what my half-asleep mind was thinking), and the only reason I got up out of bed was because the first thing I thought from my answer was, "IT'S PIE TIME!"**

 **That is the story of my life. XD Now I'm awake, having coffee, and feeling achieved because I finished this chapter! :D Enjoy! Shout-outs:**

 **ShadowSpirit020: SAVE HIM, GANG! :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Haha! Out of the sinking ship and into the water, LOL! XD XD XD**

 **Artwing7: Yep. Kidnapped. Doomed. XD HAHAHAHA! :D Yeah, way back when, before I had over a hundred stories on this sight, my early followers would call me "Queen Cliffy." XD**

 **Dimentional Phaser: Haha, oh my gosh, Hiccup would be so awkward as a ghost. He'd look down at his ghostly body, sigh, and say, "well, it was bound to happen one of these days." XD**

 **1 Fan: Hahahaha, thank you! :D**

 **The Ink Splotches: Drowning is a horrible way to die. *shivers* Thanks! :D I have too much fun writing the villains, seriously. Too much fun. :D Yeah, for Hiccup it's just so normal. For us it'd be a gigantic panic like "Oh my gosh ohmygoshI'mgonnadiehereI'mgonnadiehere" and Hiccup is just, "aw, come on, why do these things always happen to me?" XD**

 **SnivyDragon: Dagur is such a paranoid, shifty villain that it's hard to tell what in the world's going through that insane little noggin of his. XD And yep, you hit it head-on! *high-five* I don't think anyone has ever predicted anyone that accurately before. XD**

 **AquaticDragon: Hahaha, yep, cliffhangers. :D :D :D Thanks so much! :D I'm glad you enjoy it! :D**

 **Jo: Yep. I normally like to move my stories along pretty fast, 'cause, of course, they'd move along fast would they be an episode of RttE. :D So yep! Thanks! :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: Definitely an interesting story! :D Let's see what Ryker does! :D**

 **pinkpop002: Hahahahaha, sorry! XD Thanks a bunch! :D And let's see what Ryker does! *rubs hands together***

 **Liza Mondragon: I know, right!? Whenever the villain says, "I'll leave you for dead" you INSTANTLY know, "Oh, this means the hero's totally going to get rescued! Whoop whoop!" The villain might as well say, "I'm gonna leave you for your friends to find." :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Charr2003: THANKS! :D Oooh, losing internet is the WORST. We had some snow the other day, so the internet was all shifty and weird, and I was just, "Don't go out, baby, don't go out!" XD XD XD *chants with you* HICC-STRID! HICC-STRID! HICC-STRID! XD**

 **midnightsky0612: I wish there was. :D**

* * *

When Dagur stepped onto the deck of his ship, it was to see his men running back and forth frantically as if for their very lives. "WHAT ARE YOU COWARDS RUNNING FOR!?" he snapped angrily, grabbing the nearest soldier to demand an answer. "TALK!"

The soldier blubbered helplessly, "The ship is sinking, sir! We have to abandon the mission!"

"Oh, abandon the mission, _how?"_ Dagur blurted. "We only brought one ship, you idiot!" He threw the soldier overboard and barked orders to the remaining ones. "Fight back, you cowards!" he shouted. "FIGHT BACK!"

Ryker looked back at Dagur, expecting to see Hiccup somewhere, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Hiccup…?" Ryker whispered, more to himself than anything. And then, turning back to his men, he demanded, "Rally up Dagur's men and take them to the ships! Tie them up! We'll take them back to our base and lock them in our dungeons!"

And he, without waiting another moment, turned, knocked Dagur out of the way, and leapt below the decks.

The instant he leapt, he was sinking into deep salt water; it nearly covered his head. It was no wonder the ship was sinking; nothing with this much water in it could stay afloat for more than a few minutes.

Ryker, without fully even thinking about what it was he was doing, sucked in a deep breath and dove beneath the water, jostling his broken arm as little as possible and ignoring the pain for the time being.

Everything was black for a few moments, but then, his eyes adjusted, and he saw, in the corner, an unconscious Hiccup, half pinned beneath a fallen shelf without hopes of ever reaching the surface.

Ryker thought about leaving him to drown (if he hadn't already), but then he thought about the boy helping him with his arm, when he clearly didn't want to.

And besides, even though they were sworn enemies, they _had_ promised a week-long peace treaty, hadn't they?

Before Ryker could rethink his decision, he dove further beneath the water, kicking towards Hiccup. With one shove, he pushed away the shelf, grabbed Hiccup's forearm, and yanked him back towards the surface of the water.

Hiccup opened his eyes for just a second, looked dazedly at Ryker, and then, was unconscious again.

Ryker inwardly sighed.

Well, at least Hiccup was alive.

…

"Dagur's ship is sinking!" Fishlegs reported from where he was mounted on Meatlug, his spyglass pressed up to his eye. "But there are other ships over there, too...dragon hunters! They're fighting the Berserkers off!"

"Let me see that!" Astrid demanded, flying alongside him on Stormfly, and Fishlegs instantly handed it over. Astrid raised it to her own eye and looked.

Dagur's ship had sunk, clearly, and the dragon hunter ships were sailing away, no doubt back to their base. Astrid lowered the spyglass, frowning.

"It makes you wonder why they both showed up," she said, "without actually coming after us."

"There is _no pleasing_ you, is there, Astrid?" said Snotlout. "We should be _grateful_ to Ryker and his men for taking out Dagur!" said Snotlout, crossing his arms. "Who knows! Maybe with the Berserkers in the dragon hunter's custody, Dagur will finally _chill out_ for a change!"

"But there's still no sign of Hiccup anywhere," said Fishlegs, twiddling his thumbs nervously. "What now, Astrid?"

"What's the word on the South?" Astrid asked, turning back to look at the twins, who had volunteered to patrol the island and ensure no men were approaching from behind.

"Nothing to report," said Tuffnut. "That was a puny attack. Dagur can do better than that, can't he?"

"He obviously wasn't planning on being attacked," said Fishlegs. He looked back; the Clubhouse was in view, as was Toothless, who was standing on the platform, looking out longingly. The baby dragons raced across the platform around him, tripping and tumbling over their own feet.

"We have to find Hiccup," said Fishlegs, "and soon. I've never seen Toothless this upset."

"Like we said," said Ruffnut, "Hiccup and Toothless are like two sides of the same sword. You put them together, and they're an unstoppable team. But separate them, and…" She gestured to where Toothless was moping. "I doubt Hiccup's better off."

Astrid narrowed her eyes at the horizon, her hand moving to clutch the charm of her necklace, her other hand enclosing around the handle of axe.

"With Ryker and the Berserkers gone," she said, "we can go back and look for him. Everyone, head over to Thor's Hammer, now." She looked back at the Night Fury waiting on the platform. "And bring Toothless with us."

…

Hiccup opened his eyes, blinking up at bright sky. He was lying on his back on what felt like hard, cold ground, and it took him only a moment before he realized where he was.

He was on Dragon's Edge, in the rockslide terrain.

He sat up, maybe a little too fast. His head spun, and he clutched his temple, shutting one eye with a small moan. He pulled his sleeve over the gashes caused by Dagur's whip and looked around.

He couldn't remember how he got here. The last thing he remembered was fighting Dagur, and then, he remembered seeing a blurry figure for a brief moment, who had come to his rescue…

He looked to the side.

Ryker's dagger sat just within his reach.

That explained it, then.

Ryker had saved him and left the dagger with Hiccup as silent proof of it.

Hiccup looked towards the ocean; the vacant ocean, without any enemy ships littering it and destroying the beautiful scenery. Although he now knew who it was he had to thank for saving his life, he didn't exactly understand where the ships had gone.

Dagur's ship had sunk.

And the dragon hunters had…

...retreated? Returned to their home base? Whatever way was fine with Hiccup as long as they were gone.

There was a sudden roar from the corner, and before Hiccup even had the chance to see what had roared, he was tackled back to the ground by none other than Toothless, who instantly bombarded him with ecstatic licks.

"T-Toothless!" Hiccup said, but he said it while grinning. "You're...you're alright!"

In response, Toothless licked him again.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," said Hiccup, pressing his forehead against his dragon's and shutting his eyes for just a moment. "Are you okay, bud?"

Toothless only licked him again, and Hiccup knew he was fine.

"Hiccup!" came other shouts from above, and Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins flew in on their dragons. The dragons landed, and their riders dismounted and charged over.

"There you are!" said Fishlegs. "We were looking everywhere for you! Where _were_ you?"

"Huh, so he _was_ lying right out in the open," said Ruffnut, elbowing her brother painfully in the ribs. "And you didn't see him!"

"Hey, you didn't see him either!" protested Tuffnut angrily.

Astrid seized Hiccup's hand and helped him up. As soon as he was standing, she embraced him tightly.

"Never do that again," she hissed in his ear. " _Never_ , you hear me?"

"I'll do my best, milady," Hiccup said.

Astrid pulled away. Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins gathered around.

"So, Hiccup," said Snotlout, "what _did_ happen to you? Because you weren't here thirty minutes ago."

Hiccup thought back to everything that had happened and shook his head. "If I did tell you," he said, "you wouldn't believe me."

"Come on, Hiccup," said Astrid, looping her arm through his. "We've been through some insane stuff in the past. I'm sure we can handle one more crazy catastrophe."

Hiccup looked up, pondering this, but after a moment, he conceded and nodded. "Alright," he said, and after a long exhale, "but let's get back to the Clubhouse first. It's kind of a long story."


	7. Chapter 7

**Angel Azul: Yep. I love updating. :D And thanks! :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Yep! Go Ryker! Never thought I'd say that, but yeah. :D :D :D**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Haha, thanks! :D**

 **bella: Yay! :D Yeah, I think he'll definitely meet Ryker again in a later fanfiction episode, so we'll see how that goes down! :D Thanks! :D**

 **CoverGirl7210: Thanks for the feedback! :D Yeah, Skeletons in the Closet was definitely one of my favorite to write so far. :D Thanks a bunch! :D**

 **1 Fan: Awesome! :D**

 **Charr2003: We literally just lost power a few hours ago, which included our internet. -_- XD Seriously! Losing internet is horrible! I read this story online about this guy who, whenever he wanted to call a family meeting, turned off the internet and waited for his family to come running. XD HICCSTRID FOR THE WIN! :D :D :D**

 **Jo: Yep! I love character development! :D (Pssssst! Read this chapter! :D :D :D)**

 **midnightsky0612: Yep, hopefully not. :)**

 **Dimensional Girl: Haha, aw, thanks! :D :D :D**

 **wikelia: Hahahaha, LOL! :D At first I was like, "oh, well, will my readers get mad at me if I don't stick to the already established date?" and I posted it, and well, no one's complaining. XD I laughed out loud at your reaction! :D :D :D Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying them so far! :D**

 **Artwing7: Yeah, applying saltwater to a wound always stings. Thanks for mentioning it! :D I had already thought of it, but forgot to say something about it. :P Plus, Hiccup was sort of unconscious pretty fast, so he wouldn't have felt it much. :D Plus the adrenaline. :D Ryker has a conscience! Who would have thought, right? :D :D :D**

* * *

Back at the Clubhouse, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch played with the baby dragons on the platform; the Changewings had gone into hiding to avoid getting chewed on by them. Inside the Clubhouse, Astrid, Fishlegs, Hiccup, Snotlout, and the twins sat at their round table, Hiccup's wrists wrapped in tan bandages.

"...And after Dagur knocked me out," Hiccup recounted, "Ryker came back for me. I guess he dragged me from the decks of Dagur's ship and left me on the shores for you guys to find."

"That's insane, Hiccup," said Fishlegs.

"I told you so," said Hiccup.

"Huh," said Tuffnut, "who knew Ryker could be thoughtful. That's almost as shocking as Snotlout being agreeable."

"HEY!" Snotlout objected.

"I said _almost_ ," said Tuffnut. "Don't worry, Ryker could never best _you_."

"So Ryker left the dragon eggs on the most unstable part of the island to try and run us out?" Fishlegs asked. "It sounds like he's trying to use his brain instead of his brawn…"

"But he should know that a few dragon eggs aren't going to collapse an entire island," said Astrid. "The plan was stupid, even for the likes of _him_."

"He's not used to using his brain," Hiccup said, shrugging. "Viggo usually did that and Ryker would fight. It just goes to show us how vulnerable the hunters are without Viggo to lead them. It's only a matter of time before they become like Dagur and his Berserkers, who attack without thinking and hope for the best."

"But at least we don't have to worry about Viggo coming up with another great scheme and wiping us all out," said Ruffnut. "That's a _good_ thing! I'm all up for explosions and stuff, but getting wiped out isn't fun at all."

"Right," said Hiccup. "But I still don't feel exactly…"

"URGH!" Snotlout dropped his head onto the table, moaning. "Does _nothing_ ever please you guys? They're gone already! Viggo's gone, the hunters took Dagur, so he's gone, and Hiccup and Ryker still have a few days left of their temporary peace treaty! This is perfect! _Enjoy the victory while it lasts!"_

Astrid found his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Hiccup looked at her, smiled, and sighed. "You're right," said Hiccup to Snotlout, and he squeezed Astrid's hand back. "You're right."

Just then, the baby dragons crashed through the Clubhouse, hyper and bouncy as ever, looking around excitedly. Hiccup winced when one of them knocked over a barrel and startled another; they wrestled each other to the ground.

"We do have to do something about them, though," Hiccup said flatly.

"You're right," said Fishlegs, 'they can't stay here, they'll either get eaten by predators, or destroy the Edge."

"There are plenty of dragons back on Berk," said Astrid. "We could take them there. They'll be right at home there."

"Sounds like a plan," said Hiccup, nodding. "We'll get the tarp to carry them in and fly them there with our dragons. I'll send an airmail to my Dad as a heads-up."

Two of the baby dragons knocked over a tarp, and when it covered them, they squealed and attacked each other, nearly rolling off the side of the platform in the process.

Fishlegs winced.

"Yeah," he said, "I think giving the Berkians a heads-up is a good idea."

…

A dark room, lit only by an oil lamp placed on a table in the center of it, with a large, dark throne. Upon it sat a cloaked figure, still as a statue and quieter than a mouse.

Ryker approached him from the shadows and nodded. "The plan worked," said Ryker. "Just as you said it would. They believe we are vulnerable."

"And what of Hiccup?" the figure asked.

"He believes you to be dead," said Ryker, and his smile grew slightly.

The figure smiled. "Excellent," he said. "Now that that's out of the way, bring the prisoner to me."

Ryker nodded in agreement and jerked his head towards the corner of the room; two soldiers hurried from the shadows, dragging a chained Dagur between them. They threw him down at the feet of the figure on the throne, and Dagur glared up at him.

"If you're going to kill me," Dagur snarled, "at least have the dignity to show me who you are."

The figure stood, pulled back the hood of his cloak, and once he did, Dagur gasped, his eyes going wide.

"What, is _everyone_ returning from the dead now?" he said.

Viggo smiled. "Welcome, Dagur," he said. "It has been a while."

Dagur surged forward, but the soldiers holding him by his forearms kept him back. "You drowned!" snapped Dagur. "You should be dead!"

"By all rights I should be," said Viggo calmly, "but clearly, I am not." He sat down again and put his fingers together. "Now," he said, "I have a proposition for you, Dagur."

"Might as well kill me," said Dagur. "I'm not making a deal with the likes of you."

"I had a feeling you would say that," said Viggo. "Which is why I made it my duty to find a way to persuade you. After a lot of searching and even more hunting, I managed to find it. Or, more accurately, _her_."

"What?" said Dagur.

Two more soldiers stepped out from the shadows, and between them was none other than Heather, bound at her arms and gag fastened around her mouth. Her braid was loose, strands of hair spilling over her shoulder, and her eyes were narrowed and dangerous.

She was thrown to the ground beside Dagur on her knees. She looked at him, and he looked back at her, unable to fully believe who he was seeing.

"There," said Viggo, smiling. "That's better. A nice family reunion for the two of you, isn't it?"

Ryker came and stood beside his brother, sword raised, held over his shoulder. Viggo nodded to him, and he stepped forward.

"Now that I have your attention, Dagur," said Viggo, "I'm going to repeat myself."

Ryker thrust his sword forward, inches away from Heather's throat. Heather didn't flinch backwards, but she looked at Dagur pleadingly, clearly telling him not to do whatever Viggo wanted him to do.

"Now," said Viggo, folding his hands, "you have two options, Dagur. Option one, swear your allegiance and the allegiance of your fellow Berserkers to me. Option two…"

He looked over at Heather and nodded.

"...You say goodbye to your sister," said Viggo. "The choice, Dagur, is yours."

Dagur looked at Viggo, glaring coldly. Then, he looked at Heather.

"I swear my allegiance," said Dagur.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Aaaaaaannnddd that's a wrap, ladies and gentlemen! :D I didn't make eight chapters (ggrrrrr) but I figured it'd be better to end it here than to try and write a 2,000 word filler chapter, don't you agree? I don't like filler chapters, anyways…**

 **It kinda makes me upset, though. I wish I could've made it longer...it is officially the shortest "episode" in season 2b to be sure...**

 **BUT I PLAN TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU! In the next episode, and especially the "Cross My Wings and Hope to Fly" episodes. A lot of crazy stuff happens in those two episodes, so they should be up to "Skeletons in the Closet"'s length.**

 **WHICH IS REALLY GOOD BECAUSE THE LONGER THE CHAPTERS ARE, THE MORE YOU GUYS GET TO READ! :D :D :D**

 **So, yes. I totally brought Heather back. :D You can look on my profile for the release date of the next "episode" in this series (I just put up three new ones, yay! :D :D :D).**

 **BUT I DO HAVE A QUESTION, and THIS IS IT:**

 **POTTERHEADS!**

 **Okay, so I took a quiz the other day to see which Hogwarts house I would be sorted into (but I'm not telling you which one yet, he he he). Just out of what you've seen me write, which Hogwarts house do you think I'd be sorted into? I'll post it on my profile if you guys really want to know. XD I just want to hear what you think. :D**

 **That is all for now! Look for the next episode if you fancy! :D But until then, I leave you with this:**

 **THE DRAGON EYE WILL SOON RETURN.**

 **BUT RETURN TO WHO?**

 **CHEERS (lol I'm so mean)! :D**

 **-BeyondTheClouds777**


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